The Bee Cause

Bees are critical to food security

Two-thirds of the food crops humans eat everyday require bees and other pollinators to successfully produce a crop. However, the health and productivity of honeybees, bumble bees, and other pollinators are in great peril, and populations are dwindling worldwide.

Although honey bee losses have been linked to multiple factors, a strong and growing body of scientific evidence has shown that the use of neonicotinoid pesticides are a major contributing factor to bee decline.

Nature designed distinct roles for each wild bee species to play in pollinating plants and we need them all. But they’re up against big stresses like habitat loss, climate change, pesticides and diseases.

A key example is the Rusty-patched bumble bee, once abundant in southern Ontario and now almost extinct and officially designated as endangered. Six more bees have declined to such an extent that scientists have advised the federal Minister of Environment to take steps to protect them.

There are over 800 confirmed species of wild native bees in Canada with little proper monitoring. Few people can actually recognize wild bees even though there may be up to 50 species in a typical backyard.

• Stay tuned for more stories, experiences and more as shared by our many friends of the Earth! You can also click here to learn more about volunteering with Friends of the Earth Canada.

Friends of the Earth Canada will run its annual Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count from July 2018 to August 2018. Sign up here to receive news and updates related to the Great Canadian Bumble Bee Watch.

If you’re planted your own Bee & Bee for bumble bees, you’ll want to stay tuned for new details on this citizen science campaign.

We are using every technique we’ve learned to save this important keystone species beecause we care about the bees and all of the ecosystem services these species provide. Just banning the pesticides isn’t enough—we have to work together to restore wild bee habitat and ensure no new threats arise through regulation, research, corporate responsibility, and public participation.

Bee Active & Take Action!

Spring has sprung and, in my home town, Chatham, Ontario, that means the yard sale circuit gets underway. I have wonderful memories of taking my mother and father out for a drive in the spring. Whether heading out to Lake Erie or just around town, Mom always checked out how the trees had survived the […]

19 December, 2017 (Ottawa) – Today, after five years of study, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has again failed to protect bees and pollinators. Its re-evaluation report on two neonicotinoids proposes to allow continued use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam in Canada. A complicated mix of phase down of some uses and re-labelling does not […]

August 3, 2017 (Ottawa, Ontario) ­– In response to global concerns about declines in pollinator biodiversity, Friends of the Earth is launching its second “Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count” and offering downloadable “Census Cards” to help identify the bees. The campaign asks people to look for and take photos of bumble bees and to upload […]

By Mireille Gauthier | Research assistant at Friends of the Earth The Great Canadian Bumble Bee Count offers educational material to help people learn about our 40+ species of bumble bees and submit their photos and observations as part of our census. By spending time in gardens, fields, forests and parks looking for bumble bees […]

You want to help save the bees? Guess who is waiting for you in your garden – and it’s not me, Bea! You might have leaf-cutters, mining bees, bumblebees or sweat bees and lots more. These are wild, native bees, and there are over 825 species in Canada that need your help! Leave the hives to […]

(but then we have to get back to work because they’re not safe yet) It’s been quite a year in Canada for action on bee killing pesticides. And with the US EPA poised to be gutted by the new US administration, we’d better keep working hard to insist on enough scientific capacity in the federal […]

Concern for food quality, how it’s produced and where it’s produced has never been greater. Canadians recognize the value of healthy food and the significant impacts its production has on the environment, climate change and local economies. We also recognize that agri-industry is responsible for significant environmental and social impacts – for example, that of […]

Join us in demanding Health Minister Philpott take immediate steps to fix pesticide regulation in Canada! This is a story of an arrogant government agency more dedicated to helping pesticide manufacturers to profit than doing its job to protect human health and the environment. It’s a story that will make you angry. It proves […]

We are thrilled that Matt & Nat have selected Friends of the Earth Canada’s Let It Bee campaign to be featured in their 2016 Hope Charity Bag campaign. Upon purchasing one of these beautiful, vegan handbags, you can choose Friends of the Earth Canada as the recipient of the full purchase price to support our work […]

August 16, 2016 (Ottawa) Friends of the Earth Canada says Canada urgently needs a study of the impact of neonicotinoid pesticides used on canola crops in light of a new study out of Britain. The study links neonicotinoid pesticide use on canola crops to large scale, long term declines in wild bee species. Canada is the […]

Enough is enough. With your help we’re heading to court to get bee killing pesticides off the market. We have asked nicely, presented scientific evidence, signed petitions even elected a new government, but politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa have done nothing. You know the story – research findings clearly link it with immediate bee deaths […]

Neonicotinoid pesticides have been linked to mass bee die-offs and declining pollinator populations. TORONTO, July 6, 2016 — Environmental groups are headed to court in a bid to protect pollinators from a harmful class of pesticides. The David Suzuki Foundation, Friends of the Earth Canada, Ontario Nature and the Wilderness Committee have been tracking the […]

May 5, 2016 (Toronto, Ontario) In response to global concerns about declines in pollinator biodiversity, Friends of the Earth, with the support of Ontario Power Generation, is launching its “Let It Bee” campaign. More than two-thirds of the food crops we depend on benefit from pollination by native bees, honey bees and other pollinators. “Let […]

(Montreal, QC, April 28, 2016) Around 9 am today Friends of the Earth Canada delivered a heavenly message to draw the attention of Bayer AG stockholders. The multinational corporation is a major manufacturer of bee killing neonicotinoid pesticides. The message “Bayer Neonics Non!” was written on a 50 foot banner towed […]

A lot has changed since we wrote the previous federal Environment Minister about her duty to act to protect four at-risk wild bees. Friends of the Earth and four other environmental groups, represented by Ecojustice, pointed out to the then Minister that she routinely failed to list species for protection under the Species at […]

We’re asking you to show your love for bees this Valentine’s Day by sending Canada’s Beekeeper-in-Chief (a.k.a. Minister Catherine McKenna) this Valentine’s Day e-card. Help us in this great warm and fuzzy ask (like the bumble bees themselves) to a new government committed to restoring the rightful place of science and scientists in decision-making. Join […]

The Commissioner on Environment and Sustainable Development audit results confirm that Canada must replace the PMRA Friends of the Earth Canada says no trust left for PMRA (January 26, 2016 – Ottawa) Canada’s Commissioner on Environment and Sustainable Development, Julie Gelfand, delivered a stinging audit of five key areas of performance for the Pesticide Management […]